NASA Launches 8-Satellite Constellation to Track Hurricanes from Space

A rocket fired from a jet plane Thursday (Dec. 15) to launch NASA's latest Earth-observing mission, an 8-satellite mission to study hurricanes like never before. The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission will use radio signals from the GPS satellites to measure the wind speed near the ground in the tropics, between 35 degrees north and 35 degrees south where most hurricanes are born. CYGNSS launched into orbit on an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket at 8:35 a.m. EST (1335